Marianne Faithfull has truly lived the sort of Grimm's fairy tale/rock 'n' roll soap opera life that many supposed divas wish they had lived,one that almost transcends the mortal world and enters into mythology. A ravishingly beautiful daughter of a baroness and a British Intelligence officier, she was just a teen-ager when she met Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Mick Jagger. Both of them were taken initially by her stunning good looks; the ever tactful Mr. Oldham has described her as "an angel with big tits." And, as the legend goes, Mick introduced himself to Ms. Faithfull by "accidentally" spilling wine over her blouse.
However, Faithfull had a lot more going for her than met the eye. Oldham launched her singing career on the basis of those looks, but her wispy, dream-like voice, wry sense of humor and obvious intelligence turned her into a cultural icon of the '60s. The embodiment of a swingin' London chick, Faithfull's career spanned a few innocuous albums and hits such as "Summer Nights." and the Jagger/Richards penned "As Tears Go By." Through it all, she still managed to play Ophelia in a stage production of
Hamlet and became Mick Jagger's very public girlfriend.Along with Keith Richard's girlfriend Anita Pallenberg,she was a fixture on the English rock and fashion scene. Faithfull also starred in the campy film
Girl On A Motorcycle(also known as
Naked Under Leather) and was the first actor to utter the f word in a mainstream film (
I'll Never Forget Whatshisname) with Oliver Reed.
The drugs and fast lane glamour soon lead to a heroin habit, and by the Stones 1967 drug bust at Keith Richard's mansion, the one-time convent girl was a marked woman, more famous for her lovers and drug use than looks or talent. The turning point in life and musical career took place when she wrote the haunting "Sister Morphine" in 1969, about a heroin overdose. After breaking up with Jagger, she disappeared from the spotlight, falling deeper into drug abuse. She was even homeless for a time. Re-emerging in 1979 with the classic album Broken English,a collection of riveting songs about sex, jealousy, witchcraft and loneliness. Faithfull's once gentle, little girl voice had matured into a throaty alto so sharp it could cut glass. All the years of despair, drugs, drink and cigarettes, it seemed, had honed her voice to the perfect vehicle for songs such as the unrelenting Why'd Ya Do It?, ("Why'd ya do it,she said, why'd you let that trash/get ahold of your cock/get stoned on my hash?")
